# OLE

> šamnu 'oil, olive oil'

A Linear A word in the Linear A Lexicon. The reading is a proposal and carries its tier.

- Reading: none proposed
- Confidence: Probable. Fits the word’s contexts and has a close external comparison, without an independent control.
- Root: [\*šam(a)n-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/2014/index.md>) 'fat (also oil)'
- Kind: Commodity
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: OLE
- Rank: #46 of the top 100

## Compared forms

- Ugaritic: 𐎌𐎎𐎐 *šmn* — šmn 'oil; fat, butter' (DULAT 815)
- Hebrew: *šemen* — šemen 'oil, fat' (HALOT 1567)
- Akkadian: *šamnu* — šamnu 'oil, fat, cream' (CAD Š/1 321)
- Phoenician: 𐤔𐤌𐤍 *šmn* — šmn 'oil' (Krahmalkov 470)

## Attestations

- [HT 12](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT12/index.md>): QA-TI-DA-TE OLE+DI 5
- [HT 14](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT14/index.md>): OLE+MI 3
- [HT 28a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT28a/index.md>): OLE+U 2
- [HT 50a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT50a/index.md>): OLE+KI ¹⁄₄
- [HT 100](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT100/index.md>): OLE+U 2 ≈ ¹⁄₆
- [ZA 18a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/ZA18a/index.md>): OLE+KI ?

## Commentary

A commodity logogram, oil: 21 standalone occurrences; Linear B uses it too. šamnu 'oil, olive oil': Heb. šemen, Ug. šmn, Akk. šamnu, the root of *308, the pressed-oil derivative, of which OLE is the base. Its compounds are the richest of any commodity, eighteen types: OLE+KI standard, OLE+MI anointing, OLE+DI honey-infused, OLE+TA fine grade, OLE+NE libation, OLE+RI aromatic.

## Same root

- [\*308](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/*308/index.md>) (šamnu)
- [A-SA-MU-NE](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/A-SA-MU-NE/index.md>) (ʾAšmūn)
- [\*188-\*308](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/*188-*308/index.md>) (buṭnu šamni)

## References

- Reading: di Mino
- Krahmalkov: Krahmalkov, Charles R. (2000), A Phoenician-Punic Dictionary. Peeters (Leuven)
- HALOT: Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob; Richardson, M. E. J. (trans. and ed.) (1994), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vols. I–IV. E. J. Brill, Leiden · New York · Köln
- DULAT: del Olmo Lete, Gregorio; Sanmartín, Joaquín (2015), A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition. Brill, Leiden/Boston (Handbook of Oriental Studies 1/112); Third Revised Edition, tr. and ed. Wilfred G.E. Watson; 2 parts
- CAD Š/1: Oriental Institute (Erica Reiner, ed.) (1989), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 17, Š, part 1. The Oriental Institute, Chicago

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/OLE/
Licence: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Cite as: di Mino, Tom. 2026. Linear A Lexicon. Plasma AI. https://linear-a.ai/. Data: kaphtor, commit 50525edd.